show up

show up
show up & shows up
showing up
showed up
shown up

1. show up p.v. When you appear somewhere, you show up. Turn up is similar to show up.
/ was supposed to meet my sister for lunch, but she hasn't shown up yet.
Over a hundred people showed up for the news conference.

2. show up p.v. When something appears or becomes visible, it shows up.
It's hard to photograph polar bears because they don't show up well against the snow. The spots won't show up until the last stages of the disease.

run into

present tense
-ing form
past tense
past participle
run into
run into & runs into
running into
ran into
run into

1. run into p.v. When you are driving and hit another vehicle or something near the road, such as a tree or a telephone pole, you run into it.
Ali was driving too fast, and he ran into a telephone pole. I was run into by a drunk driver.

2. run into p.v. When you meet people unexpectedly or unintentionally, you run into them. Bump into is the same as run into.
We ran into Karen and her new boyfriend at the supermarket yesterday.
I owe Frank $300, so I hope I don't run into him.

3. run into p.v. When you unexpectedly encounter difficulties or problems, you run into them.
/ thought it would be easy to fix my car, but I've been running into problems.
Janice ran into one problem after another at work today.

4. run into p.v. When the total of something grows to a large amount or number, it runs into that amount or number.
If you fixed everything on that old car that needs fixing, it would run into thousands of dollars. The number of starving people in the country ran into millions.

put on

put on
put on & puts on
putting on

put on

1. put... on p.v. When you place something on or apply something to your body, you put it on.
I put on my new dress before going to the party. Eric forgot to put suntan lotion on, and now he's as red as a lobster.

2. put... on p.v. When you place something on or apply something to another surface, you put it on.
I put the book on the table.
Jerry put too much fertilizer on his lawn, and now he has to cut it twice a week.

3. put... on p.v. When you attach or affix something to another thing, you put it on.
The Wilson’s put a new roof on their house last year.
I told the tailor to put red buttons on the dress he's making for me.

Did you see Mike? He's put on so much weight that I didn't recognize him. I need to go on a diet. I've been putting on a lot of weight lately.

4. put ...on p.v. When you organize or perform something for other people's entertainment, such as a play or a concert, you put it on.
The club put on a show to raise money for the party.
That opera hasn't been put on in more than 200 years.

5. put.. .on p.v. [informal] When you put people on, you kid or tease them.
You won the lottery? You're putting me on!
Don't put me on — tell me the truth.
put-on n. Something done with the intention of fooling or deceiving people is a put-on.
He didn't really win the lottery. It was all a big put-on to impress his girlfriend.
put... on p.v. When you put on weight, you gain weight.

ESL Study Guide, Grammar - Possessive Nouns and Plural Nouns

Possessive Nouns

In grammar, possession shows ownership. Follow these rules to create possessive nouns.

1. With singular nouns, add an apostrophe and an s.
dog → dog’s bone
singer → singer’s voice

2. With plural nouns ending in s, add an apostrophe after the s.
dogs → dogs’ bones
singers → singers’ voices

3. With plural nouns not ending in s, add an apostrophe and an s.
men → men’s books
mice → mice’s tails

Plural Nouns

Here are the guidelines for creating plural nouns.

1. Add s to form the plural of most nouns.
cat → cats computer → computers

2. Add es if the noun ends in s, sh, ch, or x.
wish → wishes inch → inches box → boxes

ESL Study Guide, Grammar - Nouns

A noun is a word that names a person, place, or thing. Nouns come in these varieties: common
nouns, proper nouns, compound nouns, and collective nouns.

1. Common nouns name any one of a class of person, place, or thing.
girl city food

2. Proper nouns name a specific person, place, or thing. Proper nouns are always capitalized.
Barbara New York City Rice-a-Roni

3. Compound nouns are two or more nouns that function as a single unit. A compound noun
can be two individual words, words joined by a hyphen, or two words combined.

Individual words: time capsule
Hyphenated words: great-uncle
Combined words: basketball

4. Collective nouns name groups of people or things.
audience family herd crowd

ESL Study Guide, Grammar - Interjections

Interjections show strong emotion. Since interjections are not linked grammatically to other
words in the sentence, they are set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma or an exclamation mark. For example:

Oh! What a shock you gave me with that gorilla suit.
Wow! That’s not a gorilla suit!

ESL Study Guide, Grammar - Conjunctions

Conjunctions

Conjunctions connect words or groups of words and show how the words are related. There
are three kinds of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, and subordinating conjunctions.

1. Coordinating conjunctions link similar words or word groups. There are seven coordinating
conjunctions: for and nor but or yet so

Quick Tip

Use this mnemonic to help you remember the seven coordinating conjunctions:
FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).

2. Correlative conjunctions also link similar words or word groups, but they are always used
in pairs. Here are the correlative conjunctions:
both . . .and either . . . or
neither . . . nor not only . . . but also whether . . . or

3. Subordinating conjunctions link an independent clause (complete sentence) to a dependent
clause (fragment). Here are the most often used subordinating conjunctions:
after although as as if
as long as as soon as as though because
before even though if in order that
since so that though till
unless until when whenever
where wherever

ESL Study Guide, Grammar - adverbs

Adverbs are words that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Adverbs answer the
questions:

When? Where? How? or To what extent?
When? left yesterday begin now
Where? fell below move up
How? happily sang danced badly
To what extent? partly finished eat completely

Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective. For example:

Adjective Adverb
Quick — quickly
Careful — carefully
Accurate — accurately

Here are some of the most common non-ly adverbs:

afterward almost already also back even
far fast hard here how late
long low more near never next
now often quick rather slow soon
still then today tomorrow too when
where yesterday

Follow these guidelines when you use adverbs:

Use an adverb to describe a verb.

1.Experiments using dynamite must be done carefully.
verb adv.

2. Use an adverb to describe an adjective.

Sam had an unbelievably huge appetite for chips.
adv. adj.

3. Use an adverb to describe another adverb.
They sang so clearly.
adv. adv.

Quick Tip

Conjunctive adverbs are used to connect other words and to link ideas and
paragraphs.

accordingly again also besides
consequently finally for example furthermore
however indeed moreover on the other hand
otherwise nevertheless then therefore

Possessive adjectives

Pronouns each have a possessive adjective:


I —> my
we —> our
you —> your
you —> your
he —> his
they -> their
she —> her
it —> its

Comparative Forms

Complete the following sentences using the words in brackets.

1 It's _____________ here than in London. (hot)
2 She's _____________ her brother. (imaginative)
3 He's _____________ all the other students. (old)
4 Do you think Pat is _____________ Brian? (intelligent)
5 This school is _____________ ours. (old-fashioned)
6 The computer was _____________ I thought. (expensive)
7 The rooms are _____________ they used to be. (clean)
8 He's _____________ he was a year ago. (healthy)
9 Do you think English is _____________ French. (difficult)
10 He eats a lot - he's getting _____________ before. (fat)


Answers

1 hotter
2 more imaginative than
3 older than
4 more intelligent than
5 more old-fashioned than
6 more expensive than
7 cleaner than
8 healthier than
9 more difficult than
10 fatter than

Using Pronouns Correctly

Only two parts of speech, nouns and pronouns, have case. This means that they change form depending on how they are used in a sentence. English has three cases: nominative, objective, and possessive.


Nominative case
- the pronoun is used as a subject.

example:
I threw the ball.


Objective case
- the pronoun is used as an object.

example:
Give the ball to me.


Possessive case
- the pronoun is used to show ownership.

example:
The ball is mine.



Nominative Objective Possessive
(Pronoun as subject) (Pronoun as object) (Ownership)
I me my, mine
you you your, yours
he him his
she her her, hers
it it its
we us our, ours
they them their, theirs
who whom whose
whoever whomever whoever

Run-on sentences

Here is another grammar tip sent in by Jack.

A run-on sentence is composed of two or more independent clauses. An independent clause is a part of a sentence that can stand on its own. It is not the length of the sentence that makes it a run-on sentence but rather a structural flaw.

When two independent clauses are connected by only a comma, they form a comma-splice. When you use a comma to connect two independent clauses, it must be accompanied by a conjunction (and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so).

Run-on sentences may happen under the following conditions:

a. When an independent clause gives an order or directive based on what was said in the prior independent clause.
b. When two independent clauses are connected by a transitional expression (conjunctive adverb) such as however, moreover, nevertheless.
c. When the second of two independent clauses contains a pronoun that connects it to the first independent clause.

Good luck with your studies,

ESL Study Guide

Saving time and maximizing your test scores

Once you have finished your writing, never forget to proofread it. In a toefl exam you get 20 or 30 minutes to write an essay. Always leave yourself time to check your work. This practice will ensure you do not lose points to simple mistakes.

Look at the following sentence:

The president ________ the election by a landslide.

(a) won
(b) he won
(c) yesterday
(d) fortunately

Looking at the blank, you should see that the sentence is missing a verb. Looking at the possible answers, the only answers containing a verb are A and B. The sentence already contains a subject, making b an incorrect choice. A is therefore the only possible answer.

Quickly eliminating the obvious is one method of saving time and maximizing your score. While you are proofreading, keeping in mind certain methods or practices can make the most of the time you have available for editing and proofreading.

Good luck with your studies,

ESL Study Guide

Sentence Structure Tip

The Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft were the first vehicles of humankind to venture beyond the limits of ours solar system.

Looking at the sentence you should first consider the subject and verb. The sentence is talking about the Pioneer spacecrafts, a plural subject. The verb venture agrees with the subject, so there is no subject verb agreement problems with the sentence. Now, look at the rest of the sentence. What do you notice? Looking at solar system, it is talking about a singular object. What about what comes before it? If you noticed this, you found the mistake in the sentence. Instead of ours, it should say our (forcing it to agree with a singular object).

Always remember to keep in mind whether something is singular or plural. Mistakes like these are common for those learning English, this will affect not only verb conjugation but also pronouns.



Good luck with your studies,

ESL Study Guide

Structure, Structure and Structure

Hi Everyone


This is the first of Jack's posts from abroad. Before I begin going through the interview with Jack, I'll be posting some of the grammar points that Jack has brought up from being overseas. The first thing that Jack has specified as a necessary skill for improving your writing is basic grammar.

Jack: Thanks Amanda, it's great to finally be settled in and begin working with you.
Amanda: Hi Jack, it's great to be able to get started.
Jack: You had asked me previously Amanda about what skill or lack of one I noticed immediately. I would definitely say grammar was the first skill i noticed.
Amanda: How do you mean?
Jack: Many students are familiar with basic grammar rules, but they require more practice than they have been getting. One of the first things I noticed in class was students not using articles properly. Many students are unsure of the difference between using 'a' and 'the'. The next thing I noticed was students using subject and verbs incorrectly. For my first tip I'll be going over subjects and verbs. Take a look at the following sentence:

_______ was ringing continuously for hours.
Loudly
In the morning
The phone
The bells

In this sentence you should immediately notice the verb 'was ringing'. In the sentence one thing you will see missing is the subject. The third answer is the best answer because it is a singular subject that agrees with the verb 'was ringing'. Ensuring the subject agrees with the verb is known as subject-verb agreement. The first two answers are not subjects and are therefore incorrect. Although the fourth answer is a subject, it is a plural subject and does not agree with the verb 'was ringing'. The fourth answer is therefore incorrect.


Amanda: Thank you Jack, I'm looking forward to future posts and interviews.
Jack: Its been a pleasure, thanks Amanda



Stay tuned everyone,

ESL Study Guide